The Agora: Dedicated to Ancient Ideals

Early Christian Archive

Welcome to the Early Christian Archive at The Agora. This archive focuses on the first 500 years of Christian writings. This was an era when the authors were much closer to Jesus. Not closer in the religious sense, but closer in the temporal and geographic senses.

Christianity, like any mass socio-politico-cultural movement, has migrated far from it's roots. The writings featured on this page were all written when Jesus was a recent phenomenon and therefore may illustrate the heart of Christ's teachings more readily than recent writings.

I follow Tolstoy in the belief that Jesus was much more concerned with institutional sin than he was with personal sin. This was the threat that got him crucified. Jesus was less concerned with the poor stealing bread than he was with the fact that poverty exists. It is my personal belief that were Jesus alive today, he would be more concerned with our bulging prison population than he would be with whether or not one had "accepted Jesus Christ as personal savior." I believe that fundamentalists are not fundamental, they have nothing to do with the teachings of Jesus. Fundamentalists turn Christianity into stone. Usually the stone tablets of Moses, to the exclusion of the teachings of Jesus. At the other end of the spectrum, we have the progressives, who pay lip service to the Gospels. However, they turn Jesus' teachings into air. Diluting it to such an extent that it becomes vapor and lacks all substance, like the Beatles they would convince you that "all you need is love." However, Jesus would retort that love without action is vapor. The early christian church produced martyrs because it was anti-institutionalized sin. The modern church has become just another institution in a global society based upon institutionalized sin, evil, and inequity.

These early Christian writers still had the living elements of water and fire within them, and it is clear in their thought and exposition. They are offered here as an antidote to the present church-induced malaise. See Early Christian Timeline.

The Gospels: Supplementing the traditional four Gospels of Mathew, Mark, Luke, and John with that of Thomas.

Epistle of Mathetes to Diognetus: Both the Greek writer and the recipient of this epistle are unknown. "Mathetes" simply means "disciple". The text is most commonly dated late in the second century but may be even older perhaps placing it with the Apostolic Fathers.

Epistle of Barnabas: The writer is unknown, probably Alexandrian. The text is usually dated to around the year 130.

Address of Tatian to the Greeks: Written during the second century by Tatian, a Greek educated Assyrian.

Athenagoras, A Plea for the Christians: Written during the second half of the second century by a (former) Athenian philosopher/Christian convert.

Clement of Alexandria, Exhortation to the Heathen: Late second century Greek theologian and head of the Catechetical school in Alexandria. Probably born to pagan parents in Athens, later became martyr and saint.

Tertullian, The Apology: Second and third century Christian leader and author. Tertullian was born, lived, and died in Carthage.

The Octavius of Minucius Felix: Second and third century Latin author about whom little is known. Possibly of African origin, his writings are often referred to as "Ciceronian" for they are the same style as that of Cicero.

Lactantius, A Treatise on the Anger of God: A native North African of the third and forth centuries, taught rhetoric in the Eastern Roman Empire, prolific Christian writer.

Most of the texts contained on this site are public domain. Site layout, all original content, created by John Trapp ©2001